Help with article on U.S. cars
Discussion
Morning all - need some assistance with this, if you would be so kind.
An aquaintance of mind is putting together an article (actually about dogs), aimed at the US market and using cars as analogies.
Firstly, she has asked me if I can think of the car version of a something like a Great Dane; an American car that is actually a HUGE softie but looks intimidating.
Secondly, what would be the American equivalent of a Citroen Saxo - in other words, a fairly unremarkable car that is often modified by its owners?
Thirdly, is there a US nickname or colloquial term for a mechanic?
Many thanks in advance!
An aquaintance of mind is putting together an article (actually about dogs), aimed at the US market and using cars as analogies.
Firstly, she has asked me if I can think of the car version of a something like a Great Dane; an American car that is actually a HUGE softie but looks intimidating.
Secondly, what would be the American equivalent of a Citroen Saxo - in other words, a fairly unremarkable car that is often modified by its owners?
Thirdly, is there a US nickname or colloquial term for a mechanic?
Many thanks in advance!
Edited by AshG on Tuesday 13th October 11:51
I take your point though. In the states most kids seem to mod CivicsSomething like the Chevrolet Suburban or Dodge Durango or even Hummer H3, all of which are docile and easy to drive.
Civics and Scions tend to be the favoured tool of American youth but their own home-grown Dodge Neon SRT4 is their equivalent of cars like the WRX.
To be honest, their equivalent of the Saxo is something like a Mustang V6 because nobody needs to make small cars as they don't cost much less and the aftermarket for modifying the Mustang is vast.
Civics and Scions tend to be the favoured tool of American youth but their own home-grown Dodge Neon SRT4 is their equivalent of cars like the WRX.
To be honest, their equivalent of the Saxo is something like a Mustang V6 because nobody needs to make small cars as they don't cost much less and the aftermarket for modifying the Mustang is vast.
.Something tells me 300bhp/ton would be a good choice on this.
AshG said:
Secondly, what would be the American equivalent of a Citroen Saxo - in other words, a fairly unremarkable car that is often modified by its owners?
mikepcg said:
Could be an AMC Pacer you're being describing there?
What english is that? try again.Could be an AMC Pacer you're describing there?
PS went for the Pacer as it represented the size car in the OP's post. Although I suppose a small car in the US is a medium sized car here!
Edited by MikePCG on Wednesday 14th October 09:12
I would go with Lusifer with the Great Dane = Hummer or even the Chrysler 300c as it looks gangsta enough but easy to drive/own.
For the Saxo equivilant, the problem with the US youf market is they are dominated by the import crowd so Civics and especially Toyota's Scion brand tend to be the modified choices at present.
For a US mechanic, they tend to be called mechanic but a slang is grease monkey or spanner man..I guess.
Kev
Edited by KevF on Tuesday 13th October 18:10
One of the most common place unremarkable cars was the 79-93 mustang. Most were rather plain jane affairs but cheap and modded by the bucket load then and even more so now. Apart from the import crowd this is and to a certain extent THE blue collar modded car in the US.
The mongrel of the american car market backed by a wealth of performance parts, race series, mags, etc;
From mild to wild.
The mongrel of the american car market backed by a wealth of performance parts, race series, mags, etc;
From mild to wild.
AshG said:
Morning all - need some assistance with this, if you would be so kind.
An aquaintance of mind is putting together an article (actually about dogs), aimed at the US market and using cars as analogies.
Firstly, she has asked me if I can think of the car version of a something like a Great Dane; an American car that is actually a HUGE softie but looks intimidating.
Secondly, what would be the American equivalent of a Citroen Saxo - in other words, a fairly unremarkable car that is often modified by its owners?
Thirdly, is there a US nickname or colloquial term for a mechanic?
Many thanks in advance!
1: Cad Escalade/Lincon NavigatorAn aquaintance of mind is putting together an article (actually about dogs), aimed at the US market and using cars as analogies.
Firstly, she has asked me if I can think of the car version of a something like a Great Dane; an American car that is actually a HUGE softie but looks intimidating.
Secondly, what would be the American equivalent of a Citroen Saxo - in other words, a fairly unremarkable car that is often modified by its owners?
Thirdly, is there a US nickname or colloquial term for a mechanic?
Many thanks in advance!
Edited by AshG on Tuesday 13th October 11:51
2: Honda Civic
3: Wrench
answer 1 is open to interpretation and is my own opinion
2 & 3 are accurate.
Edited by jeff m on Wednesday 14th October 03:15
AshG said:
In my callow youth, CampDavid, I actually DID lust after a VTS myself! Thanks for your reply! Is there though a US car that is often modified? I know that they like to fettle 'Ricers', as I believe they refer to Jap cars as...
Modding is huge business here. However, none have been modded more than the Mustang. Ford even builds these cars as "blank canvases" for this exact purpose. They poll Mustang customers to determine their wants. The 'Stang modding industry is second to none. 
Edited by Jimbeaux on Monday 19th October 19:14
AshG said:
Morning all - need some assistance with this, if you would be so kind.
An aquaintance of mind is putting together an article (actually about dogs), aimed at the US market and using cars as analogies.
Firstly, she has asked me if I can think of the car version of a something like a Great Dane; an American car that is actually a HUGE softie but looks intimidating.
The Ford Excursion, much larger than the Suburban and more intimidating than a Suburban or Durango, yet still typical American to driveAn aquaintance of mind is putting together an article (actually about dogs), aimed at the US market and using cars as analogies.
Firstly, she has asked me if I can think of the car version of a something like a Great Dane; an American car that is actually a HUGE softie but looks intimidating.
AshG said:
Secondly, what would be the American equivalent of a Citroen Saxo - in other words, a fairly unremarkable car that is often modified by its owners?
Sort of agree with Mustang V6, but the Scion is much more popular among younger drivers and is regularly modded.The Mustang is seen as a bit more grown up and is more expensive to run, the Scion is cheap to run, cheap to modify and has loads of aftermarket stuff available, and is different to what their parents had!
+1 - Greasemonkey.
Trailermasher said:
AshG said:
Morning all - need some assistance with this, if you would be so kind.
An aquaintance of mind is putting together an article (actually about dogs), aimed at the US market and using cars as analogies.
Firstly, she has asked me if I can think of the car version of a something like a Great Dane; an American car that is actually a HUGE softie but looks intimidating.
The Ford Excursion, much larger than the Suburban and more intimidating than a Suburban or Durango, yet still typical American to driveAn aquaintance of mind is putting together an article (actually about dogs), aimed at the US market and using cars as analogies.
Firstly, she has asked me if I can think of the car version of a something like a Great Dane; an American car that is actually a HUGE softie but looks intimidating.
AshG said:
Secondly, what would be the American equivalent of a Citroen Saxo - in other words, a fairly unremarkable car that is often modified by its owners?
Sort of agree with Mustang V6, but the Scion is much more popular among younger drivers and is regularly modded.The Mustang is seen as a bit more grown up and is more expensive to run, the Scion is cheap to run, cheap to modify and has loads of aftermarket stuff available, and is different to what their parents had!
+1 - Greasemonkey.
Jimbeaux said:
Trailermasher said:
AshG said:
Morning all - need some assistance with this, if you would be so kind.
An aquaintance of mind is putting together an article (actually about dogs), aimed at the US market and using cars as analogies.
Firstly, she has asked me if I can think of the car version of a something like a Great Dane; an American car that is actually a HUGE softie but looks intimidating.
The Ford Excursion, much larger than the Suburban and more intimidating than a Suburban or Durango, yet still typical American to driveAn aquaintance of mind is putting together an article (actually about dogs), aimed at the US market and using cars as analogies.
Firstly, she has asked me if I can think of the car version of a something like a Great Dane; an American car that is actually a HUGE softie but looks intimidating.
AshG said:
Secondly, what would be the American equivalent of a Citroen Saxo - in other words, a fairly unremarkable car that is often modified by its owners?
Sort of agree with Mustang V6, but the Scion is much more popular among younger drivers and is regularly modded.The Mustang is seen as a bit more grown up and is more expensive to run, the Scion is cheap to run, cheap to modify and has loads of aftermarket stuff available, and is different to what their parents had!
+1 - Greasemonkey.
AshG said:
Secondly, what would be the American equivalent of a Citroen Saxo - in other words, a fairly unremarkable car that is often modified by its owners?
There are no such cars in the US. Many 16/17 year olds will have muscle cars as their 1st or 2nd car, but these are hardly the same as the underpowered hatches we have here. 300 or 400hp RWD performance cars are fairly common place over there for young people.Edited by AshG on Tuesday 13th October 11:51
Closest is probably something like a Honda Civic, yes I know its a Japanese motor car, but were we have chavs in the Britain, they have "ricers" in the US and their weapon of choice is a souped up Civic with a "fart can" style exhaust.
300bhp/ton said:
Many 16/17 year olds will have muscle cars as their 1st or 2nd car, but these are hardly the same as the underpowered hatches we have here. 300 or 400hp RWD performance cars are fairly common place over there for young people.
This is complete b
ks, just in case anyone thought it could possibly be the case.Most kids drive hand-me-down shopping clunkers.
The 'modded' Honda scene is dominated by early 20's Latinos.
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